Two Are Better
by Jaiaelle
Summary: Artie finds out that Brittany had been cheating on him.  Quinn finds Artie in the music room.  Quinn/Artie friendship.


_Author's Note: I own nothing! Well, I own some things but not Glee or its characters. Nor do I own "Lotta Love." Or "Apologize." And yes, corny ending lol. I hate writing endings! Please read and review. Thanks! :D_

**_Two Are Better_**

Artie was the last person to find out that his girlfriend had been cheating on him. He'd had his suspicions but had buried them because this time he was determined to make it work. Plus, Brittany made him happy and…she was Brittany. One of the former most popular girls in school who wanted to be with him. Granted, their conversations were sometimes frustrating, as she understood next to nothing he joked about, but he could deal with that. What he couldn't deal with was finding out that his girlfriend had been involved, emotionally and physically, with someone else for an extended period of time. Once word got to him, he locked himself in the music room and played his guitar and sang and tried not to feel.

But not feeling was difficult.

Quinn was one of the first people to hear about it, even though in the back of her mind she had always wondered. She felt angry at first, less angry about Brittany hurting one of the sweetest guys at school and more angry due to the fact that she had been called out for her own discretions by the party's involved, cheaters themselves. But then she saw Artie wheeling through the halls, looking as if someone had kicked him in the stomach and her heart broke. In the middle of last period, not able to take it anymore, she asked for a bathroom pass then ran down the hall, footsteps bouncing off the walls. A haunting melody brought her to a stop and she crept to the door of the music room, pressing her ear to the glass, listening. The music surrounded her and it almost made her feel.

But feeling was difficult.

After a few minutes, she turned the knob and entered, quietly, seating herself close to him but far enough as not to disturb him.

Though he felt her presence, and somehow knew it was her, he kept strumming the chords on the guitar, ignoring the fact that she was just sitting there.

"It's too late to apologize," he sang. "It's too late."

Once he reached the chorus, she burst into tears, placing her hands over her face, as if she could hide herself.

Putting his guitar in a chair, he rolled to her side. "Quinn." Gently, he pressed his fingers to her hand. "Quinn."

The solemn tone of his voice just made her cry more. "Artie. Oh, Artie…" Dropping her hands to her sides, she gazed at him through her veil of tears. "I'm so sorry…so sorry I hurt you."

Confused, the boy backed his chair ever so slightly. "Hurt me?"

"Hurt Finn, hurt Sam, hurt me, hurt…you."

Still perplexed, Artie moved forward again, his knees touching hers. "You didn't hurt me, Quinn."

"But Brittany did," Quinn sobbed. "Cheated on you, like I cheated on two guys I really cared about. B-but did I really care about them? I j-just wanted Finn and that went all to hell and n-now…n-now…I know what everyone thinks."

He took a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking, slowly. "We're teenagers who don't always know what we want and make a lot of mistakes. Isn't this time in our life for learning about who we're going to be when we're adults? About…learning what not to do when we're adults?"

"What if…we don't learn?"

Glancing at the floor, Artie paused again, rubbing the palms of his hands on his pants. "I guess it's up to us if choose to learn or not. You can make a mistake more than once, even, but it's how you handle it…what you do with it."

Though she still doubted herself, Quinn nodded slowly. "Wh-what are you going to do…about Brittany?" she murmured, managing to bring her tears to somewhat of an end, fingers wiping them off her cheeks.

Biting down on the inside of his cheek, Artie shrugged. "She said she can live without me but she can't live without…" Trailing off, Artie watched understanding flicker in her hazel eyes. "Basically, rejected again. Has happened twice now."

At the word twice, Quinn flinched, her own mistakes, committed twice, surfacing in her mind. "You deserve better," she said quietly, after many minutes had passed. "You're sort of amazing. I don't know if you know that but you are. You deserve like…the best there is."

His mouth turned down, his expression even sadder, if possible. "No one seems to realize that. Not Tina, not Brittany."

One of her hands started to reach out toward him but she quickly reigned it in. "High school girls can be stupid. I know. I think I'm the stupidest of them all."

Shaking his head, he stretched out his own hand, brushing his fingers over her knuckles before gently turning her hand and lightly squeezing it. "No, you're not. What I think…I think you just need a friend who can help you along. I've heard the saying, two are better than one."

A small smile flitted across Quinn's face. "I think that's in the Bible but I'm not sure. I like it. It's true. I…I had a friend. I had Mercedes but I pushed her away because…" Hesitating, Quinn interlocked her fingers with Artie's, lowering her eyes. "Because I missed the old me, the me I was before I got pregnant and I couldn't be her with a friend like Mercedes."

Lifting her chin with the index finger of his free hand, he told her, his voice steady, "Maybe you can get that back, with Mercedes, but if not…I'm always available to be a friend."

Slightly chewing on her bottom lip, Quinn felt tears of a different kind spring to her eyes. "I'd like it if we were friends, Artie."

"Good," Artie responded, dropping her hand and rolling himself to his guitar. "I just got an idea for a duet we could sing for glee club…if you want to." Nodding once, Quinn waited for him to continue. "Uh…Lotta Love, the She and Him version."

To answer, Quinn began singing the song, her voice filling the room. Grinning, Artie joined in, singing the male parts, the two of them harmonizing in a way they hadn't expected they could and never dreamed they would.

_It's gonna take a lotta love_

_To change the way things are_

_It's gonna take a lotta love_

_Or we won't get too far_

_So if you're looking my direction_

_And we don't see eye to eye_

_My heart needs protection _

_And so do I_

And suddenly he wasn't feeling as much of the pain as the words fell from their lips.

And suddenly she was really feeling the music as it flowed through her and him.

And suddenly, they knew everything would be alright, that it would take a lotta love and that two really are better.


End file.
